Sunday, August 30, 2015

World Championships 2015, Astana DAY 5

Three new world champions were inaugurated at the World
Championships on Thursday as a day of surprises sent shockwaves through
the sport at the Alau Ice Palace.

The men’s -90kg and women’s -70kg and -78kg categories had their chance to shine in Astana as 138 judoka graced the tatami.

Olympic champion Kayla HARRISON (USA) and world
champion Mayra AGUIAR (BRA) were eliminated in the -78kg pool stages
while -70kg top seed Kim POLLING (NED) bowed out in the quarter-finals.

Greek great and reigning world champion Ilias ILIADIS
(GRE) fell in the -90kg second round while world silver medallist
Krisztian TOTH (HUN) succumb to resurgent Russian opposition in the
quarter-finals.

Day five, which was trending in the world of social
media on Twitter in Porto Alegre, Brazil, one of the strongest judo
hotbeds in the country, saw a host of new names seize the occasion on
the world stage.

Astana Grand Prix winner Komronshokh USTOPIRIYON (TJK),
who at 22 years old was one of the youngest judoka in the -90kg field,
put in a spirited display as he rose to the occasion in the capital
city.

USTOPIRIYON (TJK) came to the IJF after his maiden
Grand Prix win last year asking for support and was dually granted
financial assistance to compete more regularly and on the biggest stages
in the sport.

The Tajikistan fighter defeated Karolis BAUZA (LTU),
Isao CARDENAS (MEX), Noel VAN T END (NED) and Aaron HILDEBRAND (GER) to
propel himself into the semi-finals. USTOPIRIYON lost to eventual winner
GWAK Dong Han (KOR) in the semi-final and unfortunately was injured in
the process which meant that he was denied the opportunity to fight
fellow beaten semi-finalist BAKER Mashu (JPN) for bronze and finished a
career-best fifth-place.

On Saturday, the sixth day of the World Championships,
the final three remaining individual categories will be contested in the
form of the women’s +78kg heavyweight division and the men’s -100kg and
+100kg divisions with Olympic champion and seven-time world champion
Teddy RINER (FRA) aiming for a record-breaking eighth world title.

WOMEN

-70kg: Incredible EMANE on the Top of the World Again

The final between Maria BERNABEU (ESP) and
Gevrise EMANE (FRA) burst into life after only 16 seconds the French
veteran dropped on her knees in an incredibly quick drop-seoi-nage for
ippon which steered Emane back to the top of the world.

The first bronze medal fight between Fanny
Estelle POSVITE (FRA) and ARAI Chizuru (JPN) was expeditious as the
French counterattacked an uchi-mata attempt from ARAI to score an
indisputable ippon.

For the second bronze medal fight, Yuri ALVEAR
(COL) met Bernadette GRAF (AUT). After one minute, the defending world
champion scored a first waza-ari with o-uchi-gari to take a strong lead.
Tiring after a long competition day, ALVEAR had a lot of difficulties
to keep up her pace. Penalised three times, she was thrown for yuko, but
held on to secure a new world medal.

Times were hard for the favourites in the -70kg
weight category since the first four athletes in the world ranking list
were eliminated during the elimination phase. If Kim POLLING (NED) and
Fanny Estelle POSITIVE could still claim a medal, but maximum of bronze,
Laura VARGAS-KOCH (GER) and Kelita ZUPANCIC (CAN) did not have the same
luck. However, Maria BERNABEU (ESP), who was not part of the most
likely contenders for the world title, managed to eliminate in the
quarterfinals the world number one, Kim POLLING, who won the last World
Masters in Rabat. The team of Austria, represented by Bernadette GRAFF
(AUT), integrated the last four at the expense of the French
Fanny-Estelle POSVITE, who earlier eliminated the Canadian ZUPANCIC.
Using the momentum of her victory against POLLING, BERNABEU integrated
the final, winning by penalty against the Austrian.

In the second part of the draw, the triple world
champion, Yuri ALVEAR (COL), had the secret hope, once again, to get on
the top of the podium in Astana, but Gévrise EMANE (FRA), whose
longevity at this level commands admiration, did not permit the
Columbian to advance. The French qualified for a new semi-final by
inflicting two beautiful yuko to the current world champion, the first
with a drop-seoi-nage and the second with a blitz ura-nage.

In pool D, ARAI Chizuru (JPN), slowly but surely,
progressed round after round to reach the semi-finals and to join
EMANE, thus remaining in the race for gold in the last weight category
in which Japan had never won the gold medal. But the experienced EMANE
once again entered the final of a world class event and joined BERNABEU,
by defeating the Japanese, who was penalised with two shido while the
former only received one.

-78kg: Historical day for Japan and UMEKI

The last final of the day opposed UMEKI Mami
(JPN) and Anamari VELENSEK (SLO). The question was simple: will VELENSEK
be able to imitate her teammate from the -63kg weight category and add
one title for Slovenia, or will Japan be able to win a fifth gold medal
on the occasion of the 2015 edition of the World Championships?

The Slovenian seemed to take the lead during the
first half of the fight even if nothing was written on the scoreboard.
Both athletes then spent a long sequence on the floor, but VELENSEK’s
defense was impenetrable. After four even minutes, it was time for the
golden score. The second sequence on the floor was the undoing of the
Slovenian. With this victory in -78kg, Japan enters one more time into
the legend of judo as the home country of judo has now won a world title
in every possible weight category, as the women’s -78kg was the last
category never won by an athlete from the country of the rising sun.

In the first bronze medal fight, Luise MALZAHN
(GER) totally upset Audrey TCHEUMEO (FRA). The French engaged a right
handed-o-soto-gari but without control and without putting the German
out of balance. The punishment was immediate as MALZAHN counterattacked
with o-soto-otoshi for waza-ari, immediately followed with an
immobilisation for ippon.

The second place on the podium was decided
between Marhinde VERKERK (NED) and Daria POGORZELEC (POL). The Polish
was penalised once, giving the victory to Marhinde VERKERK and the very
first medal of the Dutch delegation.

World champion and Olympic champion Kayla
HARRISON (USA), who won the World Masters in Rabat in May, could not
advance beyond the second round as she was blocked by Hyunji YOON (KOR)
who threw HARRISON with an unstoppable counterattack during the Golden
Score. The road of the semifinals cleared of the American allowed
outsiders to take their chance. Thus Pogorzelec Daria (POL) eventually
qualified to face UMEKI Mami (JPN) who had settled her account as the
top seed in the pool B to Luise Malzahn (GER). It is noteworthy to say
that during the first rounds, Pogorzelec had beaten the current world
champion, Mayra Aguiar (BRA). UMEKI secured a place in the final with an
immobilisation for ippon.

After a difficult start, Audrey Tcheumeo (FRA)
managed to recover to also reach the semifinal and meet Polish
Pogorzelec on her way to a new title. It must be said that despite
extraordinary power, the French appeared very timid during her first
fight against Yalennis CASTILLO (CUB). After this winded beginning,
Tcheumeo ventured to eliminate JOO Abigel (HUN) by ippon and Marhinde
VERKERK (NED) by waza-ari.

In Pool C, unsurprisingly, was the top seed
Anamari VELENSEK (SLO) who qualified for the semis, ready to imitate her
compatriot Tina TRSTENJAK, who was world champion yesterday in the
-63kg. In the quarterfinal, Anamari VELENSEK prevailed against the
Olympic silver medallist, Gemma GIBBONS (GBR). With two penalties
against one, TRSTENJAK stepped into the final.

MEN

-90kg: GWAK beats DENISOV to world gold and the red backpatch

Second at the world championships, but that was
in 2009 in Rotterdam, Kirill DENISOV (RUS) again had a chance to
inscribe his name among top names of the judo world. But first, he had
to face the forceful GWAK Dong Han (KOR), who was the first to attack
with the left handed drop-seoi-nage for no score.

At halfway point of the final, neither DENISOV
nor GWAK had found the opportunity to throw each other, until the South
Korean engaged a tremendous drop-seoi-nage for waza-ari. Six years after
Rotterdam and his lost final, the story stuttered again for DENISOV,
and the 23-year-old GWAK Dong Han could win his first world title.

Due to an injury, USTOPIRIYON Komronshokh (TJK) could not compete and BAKER Mashu (JPN) won the bronze medal.

The battle between Varlam LIPARTELIANI (GEO) and
Beka GVINIASHVILI (GEO) turned to the advantage of LIPARTELIANI, who
after having scored a first waza-ari with uchi-mata, scored ippon with a
arai-makikomi technique.

The -90kg weight category was announced as
extraordinarily tough and the knockout stages did not disappoint the
public. In the first rounds, spectators and judo fans could be the
witnesses of several finals before the actual one, like TOTH Krisztian
(HUN) against Kirill DENISOV (RUS), or Varlam LIPARTELIANI (GEO) against
GWAK Dong Han (KOR).

Thus, in the battle between the Hungarian and the
Russian, DENISOV managed to undermine his opponent, TOTH Krisztian, who
was promised a bright future after his second place last year behind
his idol, the Greek Ilias ILIADIS. The latter was also quickly defeated
by Lkhagvasuren Otgonbaatar (MGL) in the second round of the
competition. While Varlam LIPARTELIANI (GEO) was eliminated in the
quarter-final by Gwak Dong Han (KOR), the eyes of the Georgian
delegation looked on Beka GVINIASHVILI (GEO) for a place in the last
four. Out of breath, but still standing, GVINIASHVILI managed to keep a
small advantage over BAKER Mashu (JPN), who believed until the last
second that the Georgian could be penalised, which would have given him
the victory. GVINIASHVILI was probably still looking for fresh air, when
he entered the tatami against DENISOV in the semi-final. The Russian
took that opportunity to defeat him and to enter for the second time the
final of the world championships.

The surprise of the day came from the
qualification for the semifinals of Komronshokh USTOPIRIYON (TJK), who
has been supported by the IJF, in a quarter of the draw that that
included the Olympic and world champion, Iliadis, and the 2013 World
Champion, the Cuban Asley Gonzalez (CUB). If USTOPIRIYON did not have to
directly face them, since they were quickly eliminated, the Dutch Noel
VAN T END (NED), world number two and winner of the Samsun and Qingdao
Grand Prix in 2015, was among his scalps. In the semifinal he faced GWAK
Dong Han. The Tajik was more active but less effective than the South
Korean, and one main attack was enough to score a yuko with a
drop-seoi-nage.